Even more than I love a parade, I love Christmas! Tonight is the lighting of the trees and luminaria on the Santa Fe Plaza. We go to town a couple of hours before the lighting to see some of the things we've missed so far.
San Miguel Chapel is the oldest church in the country, built in 1610. It is so odd that the guide books give this lovely structure very little notice. We found it wonderful.The art and artifacts are particularly noteworthy. There's a parishioner working in the back of the church attaching silver charms bought as memorials to the departed to the framework of a 750 pound bell that contains 20 pounds of gold mixed with silver and copper. The Mexican bell was made in 1386. We can't believe the man let's us touch it, let alone hands Rick a hammer and tells him to ring it!
This painting of the cruxifion is on Colonial buffalo hide and dates to about 1725.
The carved beam is dated 1710.
Canyon Road is the art district in Santa Fe. It is chock-a-block full of high end galleries and seems constantly mobbed. It's adorable and full of interesting buildings studded with outdoor sculptures. We frankly just did a drive by since we simply cannot buy anything of consequence because we have no place to put anything!
Lighting The Plaza
The Plaza is packed with families, excited children and happy people like us who just love this sort of thing. Santa and Rudolph arrive in an antique firetruck.
The bars and shops are full and some are providing a little entertainment to lure you in.
The crowd joins in the count-down and all the Plaza trees and luminaria on the building roofs and lining the pathways are lit.
It's wonderful and beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment